• Legalize it • Bad neighbors • Setting the seed record straight Legalize it In the ongoing battles over same-sex marriage the conservatives’ strongest argument has been that the only legitimate reason for marriage is to create a family. However,
• Legalize it • Bad neighbors • Setting the seed record straight
Legalize it
In the ongoing battles over same-sex marriage the conservatives’ strongest argument has been that the only legitimate reason for marriage is to create a family.
However, while reading your Saturday edition I learned that the Pew Charitable Trust has just announced the results of a survey showing that increasingly heterosexuals are getting married and not having children. These are couples who love one another and want to spend the rest of their lives together — in a marriage
The majority of gay and lesbian couples do not have children and many have absolutely no interest in having them. They’re just like all those heterosexual people who responded to the Pew Foundation’s poll.
They’re just people who love one another and want to spend their lives together. Marriage without children is a very worthwhile goal that stands easily on its own merits.
Gays and lesbians simply want to be able to legally share their lives with a person they love, a person who shares their values, beliefs and goals. Your own paper printed the article Saturday that proves the concept that marriage for the sole sake of having children is no longer valid.
Hawai‘i needs to look forward, not backward, and it is time that Gov. Lingle do the right thing and sign the civil unions bill into law.
Hamp Simmons, Kapa‘a
Bad neighbors
I came home to find a layer of fine dust consisting of red dirt and white drywall material covering my entire house inside and out and most importantly my windows.
I contacted Todd the representative at 651-9961 and Sean the GM of the Wyndham/Koloa Landing project at 772-1572 to clean the dirt that their project has dumped on my house.
They sent someone to clean my countertops and vaccum my floor but the person could not reach above the door sills or fans and said they would powerwash the rest.
It has now been weeks and there is still red/white drywall dust on my windows that is causing sickness and there is still fine dirt dust on places higher up in our house.
The presedence has already been set over the past five years that the Wynham/Koloa landing project pay for the mess that they dump on their neighbors.
Todd and Sean have neglected their respnsibilities to their neighbors.
Makoto Lane, Po‘ipu
Setting the seed record straight
Fred Dente asserts in his June 2 letter that Kaua‘i is toxic. We would have to agree. Misinformed individuals continue to pollute the media and potentially confuse residents with misinformation about our island’s seed industry.
Unlike other struggling sectors on Kaua‘i, the seed industry is weathering the recession and providing stable jobs for Garden Island residents. Last year, economist Leroy Laney described the activities of the seed industry as “a major stabilizing influence” for the island’s Westside. Companies like Syngenta, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Dow AgroSciences, BASF, and Monsanto provide quality jobs for nearly 2,000 Hawai‘i residents. One-third of the seed industry workforce — some 600 employees — live on Kaua‘i and many have worked at these companies for more than two decades.
Combined, our work generates $200 million for the state’s economy — much of which supports our rural communities on Kaua‘i. This is money that stays on island in the form of salaries and local purchases that support local company operations.
Biotech seeds are the most extensively tested and regulated of all agricultural crops. They face some of the most stringent regulatory and scientific requirements of any new food product that exists. We probably know more about their safety than we do about the safety of other crops and foods. What’s more, biotech seeds — and the food and feed produced from them — have been found to be just as nutritious and safe as their conventionally grown counterparts.
Need proof? Americans have consumed more than 1 trillion meals containing a genetically enhanced ingredient, and there has not been a single documented case of an illness caused by a food developed with biotechnology since they first came on the market in the mid-1990s.
The biotech and plant-breeding work we are doing on Kaua‘i is having a global impact. Our companies are working to develop seeds that are drought, insect and disease resistant to meet the future worldwide demand for food. Biotech crops are also good for the environment. Seeds developed through biotechnology eliminate or significantly reduce the use of insecticides and other chemicals, prevent soil erosion by enabling reduced or no-till farming techniques, and increase food production by improving yields.
Locally, biotech crops contribute to sustainable agriculture in Hawai‘i, promote responsible stewardship of the ‘aina, keep agricultural lands in production, and create good paying jobs in rural communities like ours.
We are proud to be a part of Kaua‘i’s seed industry and feel privileged to be able to raise our families in a community that values progress and seeks to contribute to the greater good of society-locally and around the world.
Fred Aviguetero, Waimea
Laurie Goodwin, Kekaha
Steve Lupkes, Kekaha
Judith Rivera, Kalaheo
Tom Scagnoli, Kaumakani
